ISRAEL centre-half Tal Ben Haim last night warned England to expect a tough time on the pitch tomorrow - and a hostile reception.

The Bolton defender said it was the one chance the Israel players had to express their love for their country.

And he told Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and the rest of the England team they would be shocked by the intensity of the atmosphere inside the Ramat Gan Stadium.

"I'm sure they will all be very surprised by the atmosphere on Saturday," Ben Haim said.

"Our fans are like Turkish fans. They are very passionate.

"They give us the feeling and a reason to fight. In Israel, we like to fight for the country on the pitch.

"Everyone gives his heart for the cause. It's the only time we can show how much we love the country.

"There's no doubt England are the favourites and that we have to be at the very top of our game to even have a chance.

"But it's one game, it's 90 minutes and with our crowd and our fans, we can do something nice."

Ben Haim and the rest of the Bolton defence were ripped apart by Rooney and the Manchester United attack on Saturday.

But he refused to be drawn on whether he had learned enough from that 4-1 thrashing to be able to counter Rooney tomorrow.

"I don't want to talk about just one player," he said. "It's about us playing against 11 really good players and trying to make our fans and our country happy."

Israel skipper Yossi Benayoun believes he will be fit despite missing West Ham's past two games through injury.

The midfielder, who finished training last night with an ice-pack strapped to a troublesome knee, added: "There's a lot of pressure on me to deliver because it's a big game against the country where I play club football,.